Fifty150

Somehow, the engineers got it right. With the Transit Connect parked curbside, someone standing on the sidewalk just has to step in and sit down. No climbing up. No falling into the car. Which makes it easier to exit. The middle seat passenger just steps out and stands. No climbing up or down. No side steps needed. Works just right for seniors. My 93 year old grandmother does just fine getting in & out of it. Is that $30K for the entire van with the ramp installed? Or do you have first buy the van from the dealership, then pay an additional $30K to modify it? I can't see spending $30,000 on a $22,000 van.That will bring you up to $52,000.

Look for the $79 futon @ IKEA. It's the best deal in the whole store. They can't keep them in stock. At my local IKEA, these are always selling out, and they won't take orders or hold them. Clerk will tell you when the next shipment is, and how many are coming.......25 are arriving next Tuesday.....then it's first come, first served. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00376932/

Back then, the "shift on the fly" technology wasn't quite what it should have been yet. The transmission went out a few times, and was replaced under warranty. Then it went out again after the warranty. That left a sour taste. Between the S-10 Tahoe, Mustang II, & Dodge K Car........I felt like an idiot because I bought 3 of the worst cars that Detroit ever sold. I felt like the dummy who brought a pair of swim goggles on that TV show Naked & Afraid, when everyone else brings a knife or firestarter.

Is this one that we can blame on the PETA environmentalist?

This is how they look from the inside: Notice how the window is cracked about 2" along the top?

AM/FM radio. Base model, XL trim level. AM radio has News/Talk Radio stations that give me traffic updates every few minutes if I learn to flip the stations properly. I don't know why I bother. I don't know why the radio stations bother. All that I have to do is play music, and still know that traffic is bad. All that the radio station has to say is, "play music, traffic is bad, and no matter how much you listen to News/Talk Radio, the traffic will be bad without change."

I meant "reasonable doubt".

Or as with every law, tried in a court to more clearly define the spirit of the law, and a legal precedent is set forth. Think Miranda v Arizona. Up to 1966, the police would question you without your attorney, deprive you of access to legal counsel, coerce testimony, beat a confession out of you, or flat out lie and say that you confessed. Yet, your constitutional rights were framed into The Constitution hundreds of years ago. We have all watched enough TV to know that you have the right to remain silent, and to have an attorney present during questioning. If anybody really thinks that your Miranda Rights means anything: think again. It really only clears the police department to legally break the rules, as defined by case law. Only under the anonymity of being a 5150, dare I post the following memorandum. Bear in mind that this memo is posted on the world wide web, and not confidential. Meaning that they don't care who knows the law, and how well you know the law, because the bad guys are stupid. A District Attorney's office clearly counseling law enforcement on how to justify further conversation without your attorney present, despite the fact that you invoked your Miranda Rights. http://le.alcoda.org/publications/files/MIRANDAPOSTINVOCATION.pdf

Based upon my training and experience, in The State of California, where we have probably some of the strictest gun control laws, "stand your ground" isn't that much different than how we are governed. Any citizen is allowed to use equal or lesser force to defend his life or the life of another. In defense of life, we are allowed to use lethal force. When using lethal force, I must be able to specifically articulate why I felt fear for my life, or that someone else's life was endangered. Every circumstance is unique. If a 80 year old woman were smacking you over the head with a cast iron skillet, and I can see your brains spilling out, I can shoot her in the back to preserve your life. If I were surrounded by a hostile group, and taking a vicious beating, I would fear that they could kill me with their punches and kicks to the head; which would justify why I shot all of them even though I had a gun and none of them were armed. "Stand Your Ground", for all intents and purposes, is probably the law in all 50 states. You are always allowed to defend yourself. I can't think of any state which says that you are legally required to submit to aggression or attack. Every state has clearly written "letter of the law", and "spirit of the law" is defined via case law, in which a jury is allowed to examine facts in evidence. I can't tell you what the shooter's mindset was, or whether he in fact felt fear for his life. This is clearly a case that should have gone before a jury, as it would help define the law in spirit. I think that the local law enforcement body (police or sheriff), should have furthered the investigation, and submitted the case to the court system. Clearly, we have a homicide. Was the taking of life willful, intentional, and with malice aforethought? A lot of legal questions. Without a doubt, there will be a civil trial. Civil law allows for finding financial responsibility, with a preponderance of evidence. A civil jury will determine that the action of the shooter, caused the death of the deceased. This fact will not be disputable, since the shooter shot the deceased. A civil jury will then weigh the claims, and determine if there was a monetary loss suffered, and if recompense is due. Whereas a criminal trial would have required a burden of proof beyond a reasonable cause, indicating guilt in violation of criminal statutes punishable by imprisonment and fine. Think: O.J. Simpson. Not enough evidence to convict criminally. Civil jury found that there was a 51% or greater probability that Simpson could have done it, and awarded a financial judgment to the victims families.

A few other factors. The make & model of the vehicle could influence the mpg. Perhaps the weight, or load. Driving style will also factor in. In the Econoline, I get about 16 with 87 octane, and about 12 with E-85. But that's not really the full picture. California fuel is E-10. The Econoline may get 17 or 18 MPG with the right fuel. So a drop of 18 MPG to 12 MPG is about 33%. It's all subjective. I've never gotten the MPG estimate from any car, unless I do only freeway driving, for hours. As I have mentioned in prior threads, my Transit Connect is getting about 16 MPG, with California E-10, and all stop'n'go driving. With all of the traffic around here, I'm going about 7 miles across town, and it takes an hour. At 7 miles an hour, with lots of idle time, the math is not in my favor.

$16.99 for 5 qt jug.

Can;'t possibly be as bad as the Chevy S-10 Tahoe that I owned. The electronic transfer-case added luxury however there was no neutral position with the electronic transfer case, so the owner's manual stated that the drive shaft had to be removed when the vehicle was being towed.

I really like the in-channel units, in comparison to the stick-on type. Same here. No way was I paying that much more. My primary consideration for Transit Connect was pricing. This was the least expensive option for 7 passengers......and it actually had 7 real seats. Not a seatbelt over the folded up center console. They call the Mustang a 5 passenger car, but who is riding 3 in the backseat? Same way my little Honda really only seats 2.

7 fat guys in a wagon.

That was true for the old style heavy jump starters also. Nobody remembered to charge them. By the time you reached for it, the battery was dead. Useless to have a dead battery jumpstarting a dead battery. Just like a spare tire with no air. Or a jerrycan with no fuel.

FJ Cruiser could have been a great car. But for whatever reason, not enough of them were sold. A guy I knew bought one, and his engine seized right after the warranty expired. Dealer said that the car had sludge in the motor. Dealership was also the only place the vehicle was serviced. I guess not every Toyota is a great car. The Tacoma is a very good pickup. Tacoma is engineered with a greater priority on ride quality, handling, comfort, and safety over ruggedness and payload capacity. Everyone I know who bought a Tacoma did not have payload requirements, and wanted a truck to use as a car. I would own one if they offered a long bed version, since my personal truck never sees commercial use.

I agree with you Mike. E-85 is more harmful to the environment than what is not coming out of the tailpipe. The politics behind in environmental protection is complicated. But at the end of the day, everything goes back to the money trail. Who has the most to gain, who has the most to lose, and who has the money to buy off the politicians for legislation to protect their profits. Every industry is for profit. Look at how pharmaceutical companies would rather pay fines, than comply with regulations.

Here you go, buddy. Until the moderators take it down, this thread is all your's.

Spray paint over it.

Most of us, as end users, think in terms of miles per gallon. Very few people do the math to factor in price, and think about cost per mile. When the Prius first entered the USA market, there were cost comparisons which also factored in the price of the car. That was a game changer. If you compared a $15,000 Toyota Yaris, to a $30,000 Toyota Prius, can you save enough in cost per mile to pay double the money to buy the Prius? Sure, that wasn't a fair comparison, as they were different cars. But with a Transit Connect, which a lot of people are buying for about $20,000, is it economically feasible to pay $$$XXX for an electric, LPG, CNG, diesel, or whatever else they can come up with? Most conversions , or in the case of a diesel - a different engine, can add $5,000 to the price of the vehicle. Does that conversion pay for itself, and save money in the long run? I probably would have bought a Flex Fuel vehicle, but Transit Connect flex fuel was not available. 7 E-85 pumps are available within a 100 mile radius of my house. Imagine driving up to 50 miles, to fuel up with E-85. The Obama Administration set the goal of installing 10,000 blender pumps nationwide until 2015, and to support this target the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a rule in May 2011 to include flexible fuel pumps in the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). This ruling will provide financial assistance to fuel station owners to install E85 and blender pumps. A major restriction hampering sales of E85 flex vehicles, or fueling with E85, is the limited infrastructure available to sell E85 to the public with only 2% of the motor fuel stations offering E85 by March 2014. A 2014 analysis by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) found that oil companies prevent or discourage affiliated retailers from selling E85 through rigid franchise and branding agreements, restrictive supply contracts, and other tactics. The report showed independent retailers are five times more likely to offer E85 than retailers carrying an oil company brand. As of November 2015, there were only 3,218 fueling stations selling E85 to the public in the entire U.S.

That is good to know. I recently rotated the spare to the passenger side front. Now I won't bother with trying to set the vehicle's system to read the TPMS in the spare.....since there isn't one. I'll just drive around with the low tire pressure warning on. Maybe a little tape over the light, if it becomes too annoying.

It isn't every day that a Nigerian Prince offers you $1,000,000

The HiAce never came to US either.

I'll drag this thread out of the grave. Does the spare tire have a TPMS unit?

Interesting that Honda & Toyota do not offer their vans in cargo configuration, stripped down, with no seats.